Gallagher Bassett We Guide. We Guard. We Go Beyond.

The federal government will reopen today after President Donald Trump signed a funding bill last night ending a three-day government shutdown that began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.  The bill, H.R. 195, will fund the government through Feb. 8.  The fourth temporary funding bill since October passed Congress after both parties agreed to address the immigration status for people protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

During the shutdown, all essential federal employees are still required to work while the nonessential employees are furloughed.  The biggest problem with a government shutdown – the military is considered essential and would still have to report for duty.  However, 1.3 million active-duty service members would not be paid during the shutdown, which includes families would not receive any death benefits provided for fallen soldiers.  In the last shutdown in 2013, approximately 800,000 nonessential employees were furloughed.

We’ll cover the effects of the shutdown and subsequent funding bill in this Wednesday's edition of The Way.